Here I go again! **SEPTEMBER SMACKDOWN**

alligatorob said:
Good to see you back Guy!

Yep, others doing it is often just the excuse, and there is no end to excuses... you got to do it yourself. I am happy to hear you are trying!
Click to expand...
Yep, I'm still very much engaged, even though I haven't posted much in here... my work schedule is utterly brutal, and it's only getting worse. I hope to be debt free within a few months and peel it back a bit, but despite all this I just had one of my best weeks of dieting in months! I made nearly an entire week of better decisions despite flirting with exhaustion for the entire week.
I say "nearly" because last night after work (which precedes my only day off for the week) I caved and bought pasta, noodles and unhealthy yoghurt to eat while I watched shows.
 
31/8/2024

Well, I think it's time to return to this forum!
The last year or so has been more of the same. But I have now been about three weeks without alcohol and I am starting to make better daily decisions. For such a long time, all I look forward to on my says off is an entire day of lazing around in bed. This could be understandable due to the physical nature of my jobs, but I'm beginning to also think it was linked to depression. I had a pretty good thing going about two months ago, then attended the farewell drinks of a guy who worked near my pub, and got completely wasted, putting me back suddenly into the pity/pathetic zone.
I went from working out (which motivates me to diet, not vice versa) to just laying around with the bed dreads...
A month off the booze and I'm excited about spending my day off constructively again.
Anyway, I have no idea of my exact weight at this point, but when I post in this forum, good things happen!
 
alligatorob said:
Hey Guy, how goes it?
Click to expand...
Hey, Rob!
I am going back in a positive direction after some weeks free of alcohol!
I swore a "blood oath" (figurative of course) to go to the gym last night, as I'd been putting it off.
I had to drive about 70 kilometres (43 miles) to my parents house to look after their pets for a week and there's an Anytime Fitness in their suburb I planned on going to. About halfway through the drive I realised I was wearing the wrong shoes and the spares were at my parents house. I aimed for about 11pm to get there as I hate a crowded gym. So I told myself I'd still go and do non-cardio exercise (appropriate shoes needed for jump rope and treadmill)... but then saw there were about five cars in the parking lot, so chickened out.
Did I fulfill the blood oath?? I went to the actual gym lol.
Anyway, the first step is always the hardest.
 
Dont worry about the gym. You are going for you and nobody else. This is pretty much everyone else's thoughts too. They dont care about you just their workout. If anyone is talking its not about a particular person its about their goals.
 
size32someday said:
Dont worry about the gym. You are going for you and nobody else. This is pretty much everyone else's thoughts too. They dont care about you just their workout. If anyone is talking its not about a particular person its about their goals.
Click to expand...
You're right, my anxiety is pretty baseless.
I just really, really don't like the weight room lol. I love doing cardio because you get far fewer gym bros there.
 
Cheers Guy! Nice to see you back. A month off booze is a fantastic achievement, well done!!

If you´d like some support with staying booze-free, I´ve found SMART Recovery super useful because it´s not a shame and fear based brainwashing program like AA, it´s solution-oriented and it´s helped me a ton with personal goals of all sorts, including weight management. They have online meetings and all of it is free so you can try it it´s something that you´d like.

Congrats on the blood oath as well :D
 
Floater said:
Cheers Guy! Nice to see you back. A month off booze is a fantastic achievement, well done!!

If you´d like some support with staying booze-free, I´ve found SMART Recovery super useful because it´s not a shame and fear based brainwashing program like AA, it´s solution-oriented and it´s helped me a ton with personal goals of all sorts, including weight management. They have online meetings and all of it is free so you can try it it´s something that you´d like.

Congrats on the blood oath as well :D
Click to expand...
Thanks! That’s good intel, I’ll look into it!
Honestly, after the personal obstacles with staying away from alcohol, the hardest part is the CONSTANT social pressure to drink.
People you’ve talked to at length about your aspirations to stop drinking will invite you out for drinks. It’s not malicious obviously, but just one moment of weakness can undo all your hard work. I can honestly say I am tempted every single time someone invites me.
lol I technically made it “to” the gym.
I have a twelve hour shift today, then tomorrow off, so my next blood oath is to get a good quality sleep tonight and attend the gym tomorrow!
 
The pressure to drink is real! EDIT: PRESSED SEND TOO SOON

Peer support helps develop ways around pressure like that. But not gonna be a seller, go check it out if you'd like. You got this in any case.

Hey: even making it to the gym is better than staying home. I genuinely mean it. I sometimes go and do three bicep curls and leave. It still feeds consistency.
 
Floater said:
The pressure to drink is real! EDIT: PRESSED SEND TOO SOON

Peer support helps develop ways around pressure like that. But not gonna be a seller, go check it out if you'd like. You got this in any case.

Hey: even making it to the gym is better than staying home. I genuinely mean it. I sometimes go and do three bicep curls and leave. It still feeds consistency.
Click to expand...
I agree! I think it's extremely important to just show up. It's something I tell myself constantly, just show up.
Last night I did five rounds of speed rope (only one minute each, for care of my joints), and that was it. But I showed up and I was proud of myself for it!
 
I think jumping jacks burn a lot of calories compared to other exercises. so it's a good one to do. it certainly burns more than walking on a treadmill which is what I am doing.
 
SEPTEMBER SMACKDOWN!
I've decided to start something called the September Smackdown from tomorrow.
I'll be avoiding carbs and sticking to a pescatarian diet, and no drinking whatsoever. Gym workouts will be a second priority given how far I have to travel between my primary residence and my two jobs, but I'll aim for three times a week, to help keep me motivated.
On the 28th one of my favourite bands is playing in Sydney, so that will be a motivation and reward (although I won't be drinking that night either).
Had a "last meal" tonight of tofu Pad Thai, followed by some pretty uhealthy yoghurt!
The next two days at work will be very physical.
Bring it on!
 
SEPTEMBER SMACKDOWN DAY 1
Morning weigh in: 144.8kgs (319.2lbs)
Pretty standard weigh in, it's what my weight has fluctuated around for about four years now.
I normally do an end-of-day journal entry after all my food choices and whatnot but wanted to start today with September Smackdown on my mind.
I have eggs, veggies and some flavoured canned tuna to tuck into for breakfast. Due to work at 1pm but my boss will call me in early if the delivery truck arrives early, and after that it's about five hours of carrying boxes of stuff around.

Inspirational song of the day:
THIS IS NOW - Hatebreed
They're a very typically macho band, but all their lyrics are motivational/positive. They're like a hardcore Anthony Robbins.
"'Cause this is now! How can I change tomorrow if I can't change today?
This is now! If I control myself, I control my destiny"
Uplifting, pump-up stuff!

 
Okay, so as soon as I finished the above post, I got a message from my boss "it's here" regarding the delivery truck, so I had a little instant rice pot with two tins of flavoured tuna, then zipped off to work for a very physical five hours.
After work I made the omelette I planned to have for breakfast (three eggs, diced veg and about a cup of shredded cheese).
I had to go to the supermarket, and had an individual pouch of yoghurt and a small keto ball.
I actually think making a morning entry into this diary kept me on the straight and narrow!
Very early start tomorrow.
 
SEPTEMBER SMACKDOWN DAY 2

No weigh in just yet.
Here’s a rant.
Every time I have a night off and no work the next day, I have these ideas about watching episode after episode of my show, sitting up late with no guilt, and enjoying the feeling of not having an alarm clock to wake up to.
In these situations I fall asleep halfway through the first episode, every time without fail.

However, when I have to wake up at 3:30am the next day, and I try to do the right thing by being in, lights out at 8:30pm ready to sleep… I just lay there awake. And then I worry. Falling asleep has never been a challenge for me.

So in the end I got two hours of sleep and am on the train to work feeling like death.

Ah well lol. Gotta just make smart decisions!
 
size32someday said:
when I can't sleep it's because my mind is racing thinking about different things. The only thing that helps me fall asleep faster is to not think about anything at all just focus on my breathing. the other thing that screws up my sleep is worrying im going to oversleep or counting down how many hours I have left to sleep the later and later it gets. That is something im still trying to figure out.
Click to expand...
That was exactly it. Then I tried to watch an episode of Breaking Bad to see if that would work, but I was wide-eye awake for the whole thing, and there goes another hour... and so on. :confused:
 
SEPTEMBER SMACKDOWN DAY 3
Morning weigh in: 145.8kgs (321.4lbs)

Not entirely surprising. Yesterday was long, physical, and I was tired. After work (got home at 10pm) I was either healthy in the unhealthiest way possible or unhealthy in the healthiest way possible. While the actual food I ate was good and healthy, the portions and timing were disatsrous, and my weigh in reflects this. It's a volume thing.

Anyway, early reminder is a good reminder. Had some pieces of fish for breakfast and now on the 80km journey to my other job!
 
Last edited:
So last night at my other job, someone called in sick and I had to do a longer shift. What worries me is that the same person is supposed to be doing the night shift tonight as well. So unless their sickness completely resolves, I could end up doing a long day again. Given all me efforts to avoid alcohol, these long days, and generally feeling tired, are disaster for my diet. I always end up eating carby at night time. Not "junk food", just stuff like sushi, or simple things like sandwiches. Anyway, onward upward!

SEPTEMBER SMACKDOWN DAY 4:
Had a good, long sleep, and now on my way into work. I'm either doing 9 hours or 13 hours. I don't know yet!

Inspiratonal song of the day: PUT YOUR BACK INTO THE OAR - Amon Amarth

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top